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250 Conclusion.

Young Bengal has his faults, and is not in want of "candid friends" to point them out to him. But his critics, who are so severe on his failings, know little of his difficulties and his struggles. Within the present century, Young Bengal has endeavoured to form a healthy national literature, has striven for social and religious reforms in the light of the ancient Hindu scriptures, has distinguished itself in law and administration, and works hopefully and manfully for the good of the country. There is reason for hope in all this, but there is more reason for earnest work in the future; and it rests entirely with ourselves to work out the results already foreshadowed. There is not a nation in Europe which has not shaped its own destiny by centuries of hard and arduous toil in past ages. We live in happier times, and under the influence of a heathier liberal opinion, and it rests with ourselves whether under these influences, and under the generous guidance of England, we shall move onward in the path of national progress, as all English colonies are doing in this age of progress.